DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Not since Barbaro, the most amazing race horse. human, and goldfish in history, managed to survive a brush with death and return to win the 2008 presidency have we seen a miracle of such magnitude.  After being cut, the Texans’ own version of Barbaro, Charles Spencer, was…..*sobs*

…..was……*keyboard blows up from tears*

…..saw….*lousy fuckin’ replacement dyslexic keyboard*

…..was….

…SIGNED BY THE CAROLINA PANTHERS TODAY! One can only imagine the stirring tribute that Dee Mirich is penning as I type.

Outside of being a total and complete asshole, I have two thoughts:

1. Other teams are now feasting on our scraps, which is a mighty damn good feeling.  As depressing as it was to look at the draft picks in our history, it’s pretty awesome to see where we are today.

2. To Charles, aka “Big Nasty”: My best, and most sincere wishes of good luck to you.  I can’t tell you how jealous I am that you are continuing to pursue your dream.  I hoped against the odds that you’d be back, and I hope the Panthers give you another year to heal.  I know I’m no Dee Mirich, but I really do hope you have a long and successful career.

First, my Spanish sucks.  Sorry if my translation is off.

Anyway, by now I’m sure you’ve heard that Charles “Big Nasty” Spencer was released today.  I don’t think any of us expected him to be the LT of the future, especially after the arrival of Alex Gibbs and Duane Brown.  Nor do I think anyone was shocked that a round of cuts came today considering that the team had to get down to 80 players by Friday and the easiest way to get there was to get rid of the guys least likely to make the team.  (Which is also why DGDB&D fave Jon Abbate as well as DT Eric Powell and G Dan Stevenson were sent packing this afternoon.)

No, I guess the only surprise, to the extent that there is one, is that Spencer was listed among the guys least likely to make the team, ahead of (or behind, I guess) such notables as TE Ryan Krause and/or 5-10 WR Mark Simmons.  Nothing against those guys, but you’d think that seeing what (if anything) Spencer had in the tank would be worth more than seeing what Mark Simmons brings to the table.  (Editor’s guess: Not much.)

In other, slightly related news while we are talking about roster space, I am still baffled about our continued employment of Bryan Pittman when THREE other Texans (Dreessen, Bulman, and Zgonina) can do his job while simultaneously not being limited to ONLY doing his job.  Dreessen would actually be the perfect dude to fill the dual role, as he is not asked to do much in the TE department on most days.

Day 1 of minicamp is in the books. Which means that day one of the Alex Gibbs era, the return of Barbaro, the likely immolation of Jacques Reeves, and a whole host of other stuff. Mmm…tastes like chicken, err, football.

Anyway, most of the quotes coming out after today’s workouts were what you’d expect. The rookies were wide-eyed and thrilled to be there; the team looks good, but has to shake off some rust; everyone’s goal for minicamp is just to improve and get comfortable with the new pieces and plans; blah blah blah.

One thing jumped out, however–that BFD’s fear seems likely to come to fruition. At least if take Kubes at his word.

(on how T Duane Brown looked) “Well, I’ll have to go back and see but, you know, we’ve got to see how far we can bring this kid in the next month and so we put him right in there with the first group today. And I know it was very tough on Ephraim (Salaam), and y’all know I have a great deal of respect for Ephraim and I can understand why it was tough, but as I explained to him, I’ve got to see how far I can bring this young man. But I know Ephraim’s going to do his job and I’m expecting good things from him, but we felt like we had to put this kid to work right away.

(on if T Duane Brown is first on the depth chart) “Yes, he’ll be working with the first group, and that’s the only way we’re going to find out if this kid’s going to get to where we want him to go and how quick he can get there. You draft these kids in the first round to come in and play and that’s nothing against Ephraim (Salaam), as I said, and we’ve had this conversation. But I understand the difficulty in that, but we as coaches feel like we have to put this kid to work right away.”

Hmm…what to make of this? I’d say (a) Gibbs wants his guy to play and he wants it NOW, (b) Kubiak realizes that the better half of Black Salaami isn’t all that good, and (c) Duane Brown really is the archetype ZBS LT that we need. Plus, there is probably a little (d) “tell the fanbase the kid is a bona fide #1 just to keep the natives from becoming restless” in there as well. Lord knows no one wants restless Houstonians running around.

At this point, I am inclined to believe that Brown will be the opening day starter at LT. Now, I understand the fears of him being eaten alive by the various monster RDEs in the AFC South, but there are two things that make me think he’ll be okay if he is the starter from dia una (takes large swig of the Kool-Aid):

First, I am just telling myself (over and over and over) that, Gibbs’ pet or not, he will not be the starter until he can really be the starter. By which I mean, trial-by-fire only goes so far, especially when you are talking about the guy who is protecting the blindside of your franchise QB’s surgically repaired shoulder. So he is only going to get this LT gig if he can really do it. Will he struggle against KVB, et al? Possibly. But the question is not can he stop KVB on every single down; the question is can he stop KVB (or whomever) more consistently than Salaam can? If the answer is yes, then by all means, throw him in there and let him show me that I was wrong when I broke the TV remote after his selection.

Second, though, I am taking some comfort in this little snippet from BRB:

In his first game at right tackle he faced none other than Mario Williams. At his post-draft press conference, Duane was asked to comment about his encounter with Williams.

“I remember that night like it was yesterday. I was two weeks into the position; it was the opener and a night game at NC State. (Mario Williams) is a very intimidating figure. I held my own that night and it was the beginning of my transition. Being able to go against him in practice, he is one of the best defensive ends in the league. I think practicing against him will be great for me and will help me.”

He started at right tackle for two full seasons before moving over to left tackle in his senior year. In those three years, Brown racked up 42 consecutive starts.

In his senior season, Brown boasted an outstanding 89% blocking consistency average. By comparison, the overall first pick in the 2008 NFL draft, Jake Long, had an 88% blocking consistency rating in his final year at Michigan.

As we all remember, Mario was a bad motor scooter in college. If Brown really did hold his own against Super Mario in his first ever game as a tackle, then he has some serious natural-born talent hidden away in there. And, for all the effort he gave us last year, that is something that Ephraim Salaam just doesn’t really possess.

Of course, if I am wrong to optimistic now (and, conversely, right to have been pissed on Draft Day), I reserve the right to give him a horrible nickname and point out again and again that we already had a ZBS LT on the roster in Eric Winston. I’m a fickle mofo like that.

A couple of links this morning for your chuckling pleasure.

Evidently, Sage Rosenfels wants to be a starter. No, ya think? When I was a little kid growing up, playing football on the street in the middle of the summer in 105 degree weather, I used to dream about the day I’d be on the bench backing up a great quarterback as he won the Super Bowl. I would hold a clipboard like nobody’s business.

I know Steph calls these the “warm and fuzzy” articles with a side of leg hug, but I again feel like my brain has been assaulted by a Ukrainian egg blower through my nose. Yes, he wants to be a starter. Sadly, I think he has a better chance of that as a ViQueen rather than as a Texan. But before this year, Rosie had only 150 passing attempts, and this year he turns 30. Now, he’s definitely better than a certain division rival’s QB, but I still don’t think Rosie is of starting quality due to less-than-average arm strength and his tendency to throw poorly timed picks. Regardless, 2007 will be his career year, and you sell high. In other words, take the third rounder for him and be happy.

Cuz if the ViQues think that Gus Frerotte is the answer, they deserve to suck.

In an article that actually has some marginal meat on a rag’s marginal bones, Megan Manfull has some notes from Thursday’s workout. Now, if there’s an area where the Comicle has us dirty effing bloggers beat, it’s because I can’t take off work, drive to Houston, and watch practice. So well done, Megan.

I get two nuggets from this post. First, Barbaro Spencer lives! I would’ve liked to know an approximate weight, or how he looked physically in general. Or if he was walking around with a bucket of Popeye’s. The May OTAs will be huge for him, and here’s hoping he’s in shape.

Megan also reports that Dunta Robinson is running (in the comments section), calling it “quite a feat.” Because there is a widespread “misinformation” regarding knee and leg injuries, allow me to med-head for a moment. Even though Dunta’s injury was devastating, we are about five months post surgery. Getting to the point of straight-line running is actually fairly easy. The tough part is retraining your body, and gaining the confidence, to make cuts. That a player is running may also give a false confidence that the hard part of rehab is done, which, again, just isn’t true. I’m speaking from personal experience on this issue, so no sourcing. So while this is good news, it would be extremely troubling if he wasn’t running yet.

I still think we need to hedge our bets and look to CB in the draft…just in case.

h/t to Eric for links this morning. For the record, as busy as things are these days, he’s saving my sorry ass. So a public thanks to you, Eric.

*Or, um, “rich old man”-style. Whatever.

Texans owner Bob McNair did a two part interview with Texans TV early last week. It was, as you would expect, fairly general stuff–yes, we’ve turned a corner as a team; yes, it was hard to watch all the injuries last year; yes, it was important to re-sign the Special Teams Ninja; etc.

There was, however, one answer that stuck out.

Brooke Bentley: This year’s draft will be a little different for you because the Texans don’t have a top-10 pick. They will be selecting a player with the 18th selection. What excites you about this year’s draft and which direction do you see the team going with the first-round draft pick?

Bob McNair: Fortunately, there is depth in several positions and depth in several positions where we could use some more help. We’ve had problems with left tackle in the offensive line from day one, as you will recall. We thought we solved that when we picked Tony Boselli. Then, we drafted another young player behind Tony and he didn’t work out and Tony never played one down for us because of his injuries. And the last year with (Charles) Spencer, we thought, “Now, we’ve got the guy in there,” and then I think it was in the second game (of 2006) that he got injured and then he was down. So we have had a real difficult time filling that position. Ephraim (Salaam) did a good job for us last year and he’s going to be back with us, but we need a young player in there that’s going to be with us for a long time.

Hopefully, we’ll find that. If we don’t, there’s some good defensive backs and one of those should be available at the 18th pick. And who knows? Maybe there’s an outstanding running back. If there is somebody special, we would certainly consider that. But I think that Rick and his people have done a good enough job in free agency that we are not really vulnerable or desperate at any one position, so we can pick the best athlete that is available when our turn comes. And if we have the opportunity to trade down and still get the player we want and get an additional pick later, then certainly we always like to do that.

Hmm…I like the reference to possibly trading back. I dislike the idea of taking any DB at 18 whose name doesn’t rhyme with Smodgers-Thromartie. And I am genuinely concerned by the total lack of mention of DE or DT. (Though I suppose it’s possible that Bob is just playing some Texas Hold’Em and not tipping his hand here. Maybe he is just reciting what some of the “experts” are saying while fully planning on going a different direction. Or maybe I am overthinking this.)

There’s been a lot of talk about taking a running back with our first round pick in the 2008 Draft - with good cause - so I am going to take just a quick look behind and ahead at our RB experience.

2007 was the year of the Pie for the Texans running game. After signing a $400 quadrillion contract in the off-season, Ahman Green proved what most of the rest of us already knew: a RB over 30 years old = over the hill. And to get over that hill, he’ll need some oxygen. Now, it is true that Green looked great in the pre-season and in the first game. Sadly, though his longest rush of the year came on his first rush of the year, and he wound up with only 260 yards and a pathetic 3.7 YPC. This left the majority of the team’s carries to Ron Dayne.

It’s not like Dayne had a bad year. His YPC was marginally successful at 4.0, but the league averaged 4.1 YPC. In other words, the guy who got the ball the most for us was below average versus the league…including the super sucky Bears. As a team, the Texans ranked 24th in YPC and 22nd in total rushing yards. Yeah, as master of the obvious, let me state: we need to improve the running game.

As Matt mentions in his Zone Blocking Manifesto, Gibbs is unlikely to take an offensive lineman in the first round, though he has done this. With as deep of a crop of RBs as there are in this year’s draft, I’m not sold on taking a RB with our first pick, either. Look at how well 7th round pick Ahmad Bradshaw performed last night: RB talent can be found deep in the draft. We know that Gibbs alone with help the running game, but there’s no way in hell we should count on Barbaro Spencer being healthy, either. There are a ton of variables at play here to improve the running game, and I haven’t even talked about the rest of the offense yet.

Personally, I’m starting to convince myself that signing Tatum Bell might be a good idea, then use a pick (maybe a 2nd rounder if we trade back, or a 3rd rounder if not) to take a RB. Bell should come relatively cheaply, and he knows the system. Hell, in Denver, he averaged 4.9 YPC. Yes, he comes with some baggage (pouty, can’t handle a big workload, issues picking up the blitz), but he also gives us the home run ability that not a single other Texan on the roster has. After his 39 yard run, Dayne had to have a peach pie IVed into him. By drafting a RB a little later, we can still address the problem in the running game and plug a hole elsewhere.

Regardless (and assuming we re-sign him), if Dayne gets more than 40 carries in 2008, we will have to consider our off-season plan to address the running game a failure. And, no, I give no disclaimer due to injury. Simply, there are better options out there than Dayne, and we need to find them.

Source: nfl.com for stats.

Two follow-up notes to the post below:

1. I realize that I am being uncharacteristically optimistic when it comes to Dunta. It is entirely plausible that he doesn’t step on the field at all in 2008. I am just buying into the idea that his rehab is going well and assuming that he has the type of personality that lends itself to a more rapid recovery (i.e. “fuck the naysayers, this is the style I bring” vs. “oh, man, I don’t deserve this; why’d this happen to me?”) You’ll note, however, that I am not so sold on my own beliefs that I don’t also think we should go after Asomugha.

2. Until Steph mentioned it, I was completely unaware that Charles Spencer is a big ol’ fatty now. Probably not the best thing for a rehabbed leg. I’m leaning more toward assuming he’ll be a guard in 2008.

Somehow, between my switch to WordPress and my continued insistence on making up conversations, I managed to miss talking about the departure of Mike Sherman. Thankfully, the more sane among us have been all over it. Even better, in Tim’s coverage and the comments thereto, an interesting point was raised–will the departure of Sherman signal the end of the Green Bay influence on our offensive line play? More specifically, will the lack of a competing philosophy of run-blocking cause Kubiak to shift more toward a true one-cut, zone blocking running game like they use in Denver?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, let’s bust out the ol’ football primer, just so we are on the same page. (If you already know all this, please feel free to skip ahead to the part where it says ***STOP SKIMMING!!!***)

Not long ago, I heard a color commentator mention during an NFL game that a “zone blocking system is one in which the lineman all have a specific area they are responsible for, kind of like a zone defense in basketball.” I found the same sort of thought at Football Outsiders, too. While this is more-or-less, sorta kinda accurate when it comes to pass blocking, it is not correct vis-a-vis run blocking. Or, at least, not near correct enough to get the point across. At its most basic level, all a zone run blocking scheme means is that the offensive linemen work in pairs against two or three of the defensive linemen–i.e. the guard and center simultaneously block a defensive tackle–with one of the offensive linemen then peeling off and blocking a linebacker. The “zone” the system refers to is the part of the line where the running play is going. This is what creates the “one cut” system, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Let’s walk through a example play where the running back is supposed to go right against a 4-3 defensive front. At the snap of the ball, the left tackle and left guard block the nose tackle, the center takes under tackle, and the right guard and right tackle block the left defensive end. This two-on-one blocking allows the offensive front to get a push and, also, to create the running lanes. Now, here’s where it gets tricky. Depending on certain factors (where the defensive player lined up, which direction the running play is going, where the linebacker is in relation to the defensive lineman, etc.), one offensive player from each double-team will disengage the defensive lineman and pick up the corresponding linebacker. So, in our example, assuming a standard 4-3 Over, the left tackle would disengage and slide to the second level to pick up the Will linebacker, the right guard would do the same and pick up the Mike linebacker, and the TE would be responsible (from the snap) for the Sam linebacker.

If this is done correctly, there should be a hole between the TE and Right Tackle, the Center and where the Right Guard was, and the Center and Left Guard. This is the “inside zone” and is where the “one cut” comes into play. In this system, the running back chooses one of these holes, makes his single cut, and goes. Ideally, he won’t make this cut until he is almost to his offensive lineman, thus allowing the defense less time to react to his angle. By contrast, the “outside zone” is the area beyond the TE/Sam block. Plays designed to seal off the defense and open up the outside zone do not have the “one cut” aspect to them–the running back is obligated to head outside (in theory, at least)–so the linemen block similar to a man blocking scheme, where there is a pre-determined hole.

***STOP SKIMMING!!!***

That’s all well and good, but how does that translate to our system? Well, as Tim correctly notes, the zone blocking scheme almost invariably features smaller, more agile offensive linemen. The reason should be obvious–it is not going to be real easy for a Larry Allen to engage a defender, then slide his big butt away from the block and pick up a linebacker who is 4 or 5 tenths of a second faster than he is. Besides, since you are hitting at the initial point of attack with a 2-on-1 advantage, you don’t need a pair of 340 lb. behemoths; a pair of 280 lb. lineman will work just fine, with the added bonus of being able to pick up linebackers and be more maneuverable in space.

And therein lies the rub. Look at our current crop of O-linemen. All are over 300 lbs. Of the opening day starters, only Eric Winston and Steve McKinney are agile enough (arguably, in McKinney’s case) to play in a zone blocking scheme. Charles Spencer–assuming he ever recovers from that injury–is far too large to play the role effectively. Of the backups, Chris White is the right size, but who knows if he is actually all that good? Kasey Studdard isn’t overly agile and he’s too heavy. And so on, and so forth.

On top of this personnel issue, there is the problem that such a scheme takes a long time to install. It’s not a plug-and-play system where you just tell the guys “ok, we’re switching to zone” and it takes care of itself. The teamwork required in knowing which blocker is to disengage and find the linebacker is not something that happens overnight. Even if you already had five offensive linemen who fit the system, it’s doubtful that such a change could be made successfully in one summer of workouts. A full summer and camp of practice would allow you to run it, but the bugs and kinks of the system would take at least a full season of play to work out. And, like I said, that is with five guys who were perfect fits.

In general, I am a fan of the zone run blocking system, if only because I feel like it’s easier to find guys who are 280-300 and somewhat agile just by culling from the college players who are “undersized” or even “too small” according to the Mel Kipers of the world. I also like the system’s emphasis on blocking through the second level instead of allowing that level to come to you. That said, I don’t know that you can slowly switch to such a system. If Kubiak and Co. decided that they wanted to run it, such a change would require dedicating much of your draft and free agent money to finding the right guys (and, thus, ignoring the glaring problems in the defensive backfield). It would also require telling guys like Fred Weary and Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam, “sorry, but you’re not really needed anymore.” I don’t know that our regime is willing to make such dedications and statements at this point.

I was out-of-pocket yesterday, spending most of that time playing football with (much) younger cousins and drinking beer. Thanks to the wonders of cellular technology, however, I received two pieces of interesting news mere minutes after the events occurred in real life.

The first, obviously, was that Michigan lost to something called Appalachian State. Ah, yes… the beautiful state of Appalachia. Where men are men and sheep are nervous.¹ Seriously, though, I am not one of those people who is trying to excuse the loss with the whole “well, they won the Division 12 Super Bowl two years in a row.” Fuck. That. Shit. You schedule a HOME GAME with a DIVISION I-AA TEAM, you sure as shit BETTER WIN. End of story. My college football season was ruined on September 1 and I blame Lloyd Carr. I hate you, Lloyd Carr.² OK, that’s enough Michigan talk. I realize this whole paragraph only applies to me. Moving on…

The other piece of news was the Babin-for-Boulware trade. Now, I am part of a very small group of people who liked Babin as a draft pick, even at that price. I might be the only non-EMU grad who was talking Babin up as a starter even before camp started this year. In short, I had a weird mancrush-like obsession with J-Babs. That said, I LOVE this trade.

Yes, I know that there are concerns that Boulware is a run-stopping safety and not that great in pass defense. So what? That’s pretty much all Glenn Earl did, and I’m 99.27% sure that Boulware will be better than Earl. And no offense to Jason Simmons, who by all accounts is the nicest human being on the planet, but I even more sure that Boulware will be an upgrade over him. Hell, I like having a strong safety that is great against the run. I just wish we had a free safety who was that good against the pass. That will come in time, I suppose. For now, though, we traded a backup DE for an upgrade at SS. That’s a deal I’d make 10 times out of 10.

Besides, the deal looks even better when you stop to consider the odds against us snagging a Boulware-level strong safety in next year’s draft. More importantly, if Boulware works out like I think he will, we won’t have to look for a strong safety next season. We can focus our attentions elsewhere–say FS or (if Barbaro doesn’t come back healthy) OT.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to continue numbing yesterday’s pain with dark beer.

¹ How the hell was that quote not on the IMDB page? Someone is slipping.
² I’ve mentioned this to a couple of you, but isn’t it bizarre that two of my least favorite people in the whole world have the last name “Carr,” yet they are not related? What are the odds of that?

Random updates, player notes, and assorted detritus.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I completely forgot about Jameel Cook’s injury when we were discussing moving Jon Abbate to FB in these comments. Now, I will grant you that Cook is not that good and that he made some really, REALLY stupid plays last year, but I did think that–if healthy–he would beat out a guy who hasn’t played FB since high school. Now, of course, we learn that not only is Cook not healthy, but that he will join Charles Spencer on the PUP list to start the season. So, it appears that Abbate is FB2, barring something strange happening. At 5′10″/230, he certainly has the build for it. (Click here for the video that will make you like Abbate unless you are a heartless turd.)

Still no word on Manchild. He wants to sign. The team wants to sign him. Kubiak is optimistic that he will get signed. Yet… nothing. Prediction: He signs some time late (like after 5) this afternoon. Alternate prediction: He doesn’t sign and I develop chronic heartburn.

Chester Pitts, in addition to going to Dubai and taking the time to tell us about it, has also pledged to be more energy efficient. I really have nothing to add to this.

Steph has a good piece at Fanhouse re: the battle at Center. In 20 words or fewer, I would sum up the situation thusly: Mike Flanagan good, Steve McKinney versatile but not as good, Drew Hodgdon mercifully moved to guard. Steph’s take differs ever-so-slightly. Read it.

So, in the wake of Charles Spencer’s PUPpy love comes news that the team worked out former Green Bay Packer Kevin Barry. (Hat tip to reader Mark. Again. Because he rules.)

Barry has pretty good measurables (6′4″, 332), which is always nice. I suppose the two most intriguing things about him are, first, that he can play left tackle and, second, that in limited action (8 starts over 4 years) he didn’t allow a sack.

This move makes me think that the team is either adding depth–always a good idea–or is having second thoughts about Jordan Black. (That would be the Jordan Black of 13 sacks allowed last year fame.) I am fine with either of those reasons, though I find myself leaning more and more to the “wait… you mean that Jordan Black?!” side of things.

In the end, I think this team can function with Salaam as our LT for as long as it takes Spencer to heal. That said, I also prefer seeing the team explore other possibilities. Standing pat is for suckers.

Well, it’s official. Charles Spencer will begin the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, meaning he will miss (at minimum) the first six games of the 2007 campaign.

Damn. Double damn, even.

Now, I’ve spent the last 3 months harping on how our line was not that bad last year, despite not having Barbaro, as well as Mike Flanagan and the since-departed Zack Weigert. And, it’s true, many of the sacks of David Carr were created by none other than David Carr–a problem that we won’t face this year. And it’s fair to say that Salaam did a decent job filling in last year, though allowing 7.5 sacks is not exactly what I would call All-Pro caliber.

So, no, all is not lost.

Still, I was hoping Spencer would be ready to go if for no other reason than I wanted the full varsity line intact when Schaub slides under Flanagan’s butt for the first time against the Chiefs. Then again, by having basically the same line that Carr ended last season with, maybe fate has lined up so Schaub will still succeed and we can say “See?! I told you Carr was responsible!” That would be nice.

On the flip side, going against Julius Peppers with Ephraim Salaam scares me. A lot.

Anyway, I’m just rambling at this point. Spencer on PUP list. Matt not happy about it. The circle of life is complete.

Random Thought: Who are the best players at each position in the AFC South? I’m not talking so much about career stats or even what they did last year, though the latter will play into it a little. Rather, if you could build a team right now, to start play in 2007 (without worrying about nastiness like the salary cap), what would an All-AFC South starting lineup look like?

Offense
QB–Peyton Manning. Mrs. Chesney is the only correct answer here. Damn it.
RB–Maurice Jones-Drew. Joseph Addai was a tempting choice, but Jones-Drew’s combination of game breaking speed and strength makes me lean this way. Besides, he averaged more yards per carry than Addai last season and had nearly twice as many TDs.
FB–Vonta Leach. Funny thing… not too many teams in this division use a true fullback. Sure, Dallas Clark lines up as an H-back sometimes, but that’s not the same. So I chose Leach over Ahmard Hall, thinking that there must have been a reason the Giants were trying to snag Leach away.
WR1–Andre Johnson. Blasphemer! Heretic! Possibly, but I think that this is the season where Andre Johnson establishes himself as the best WR in the conference. His numbers might not trump Harrison’s, but his play will.
WR2–Marvin Harrison. It’s not like I left Marvin off the list. We can even call him WR1B if that makes certain fans happy.
TE–Owen Daniels. I hadn’t stopped to think about how solid the TEs are throughout the AFC South. Besides Daniels and the aforementioned Clark, you’ve got Marcedes Lewis, Bo Scaife, Ben Troupe, etc. Daniels, however, showed signs of a breakout last year, so consider this almost as much prognostication as reasoned choice.
LT–Tarik Glenn. Put it this way–it is my fond hope that, someday, Charles Spencer is as good as Glenn.
LG–Vince Manuwai. Umm… you ever tried to pick the best left guard out of a group?
C–Jeff Saturday. Even Colts fans acknowledge that Saturday is a big reason for the Colts’ success. He’s still one of the best in all of football.
RG–Chris Naeole. God, I hate picking guards. That said, Naeole is every bit as good as Fred Weary and 1/10th as likely to get tazered. That counts in this. Somehow.
RT–Eric Winston. Winston would be being groomed to start (or actually starting) at left tackle for a number of teams in the NFL. I honestly think he’ll be one of the best RTs in the league this season.

Defense
LDE–Kyle Vanden Bosch. The funny thing about the defensive line in this exercise is that all of the choices were pretty clear cut. With the next three guys on the list, it is because they are among the very best at their respective positions in the entire league. With KVB, however, it’s because the rest of the choices in the conference were uninspiring. Congrats, Kyle.
LDT–Marcus Stroud. Stroud and Henderson were taken in the first round by the Jags in consecutive drafts. Since then, they’ve dominated nearly everyone they’ve played and show no signs of slowing down.
RDT–John Henderson. Asked and answered, your honor.
RDE–Dwight Freeney. I like Mario Williams as much or more than pretty much anyone. That said, I would trade him for Freeney in a heartbeat. And there aren’t too many fans of other teams who wouldn’t swap their RDE for him.
LLB–David Thornton. Looking at the Titans’ depth chart, you see two tackling machines on either side of a complete turd. Odd. Thornton showed great all-around strongside play last year and, with some of the glaring holes the Titans have on D this year, he’ll be asked to play that well again.
MLB–DeMeco Ryans. D-e-M-e-c-o. 125 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, and 5 passes defended. As a rookie. (Here’s where I wish I could have the Kool-Aid Man bust through your screen and scream “Oh, YEAH!”)
RLB–Keith Bulluck. Five straight seasons over 100 tackles, and he’s still one of the most underrated players in the league. Hard to do.
CB1–Rashean Mathis. Class of the AFC South CBs, Mathis is a ball hawk and–like Bulluck–not near as heralded out of conference as he should be.
CB2–Dunta Robinson. I did the same thing with CB that I did with WR–I put the second-best #1 in the #2 spot. Now, I know that Friend-of-DGDB&D KC Joyner said that Dunta wasn’t quite as good as advertised, but he also said that last year’s metrics suggested he was improving. So, I’m going on the assumption that he will be better this year than any CB in the South other than Mathis.
SS–Chris Hope. Great in coverage, great nose for the ball, fantastic tackler, integral part of a Super Bowl defense.
FS–Bob Sanders. Remember that scene in Friday, where Deebo hit Red? Yeah, that’s what it’s like when Sanders unloads on an unsuspecting WR. Of course, he’s not the most durable dude in the league, but–for this team–he’s just the type of physical presence you want.

I (finally) have a post up at Texans Talk that doesn’t also appear here. Granted, it’s another “Matt sticks up for the O-line” entry, but whatever.

Argh. I feel like I am bashing my head against a brick wall.

Ignore, for a moment at least, that the article ranks the Texans as the fourth-worst team in the NFL.* Ignore also that they seem to think Washington, Tampa, and the Cleo-Lemon-led Dolphins are also better than Houston. ** Finally, ignore the band-wagonish journalistic laziness that permeates the entire article. (Really, guys, Pats over the Colts? Wow… you really took a stand there.)

What I want to focus on is the blurb that accompanies the Texans’ entry. This is where I would be clearing my throat and reading aloud if the blog format allowed for such theatrics. (I have taken the liberty of italicizing the dumb shit for you. I am nothing, if not helpful.)

Matt Schaub is doing all the right things early and adding Ahman Green will help. Just one small detail the Texans forgot: get a few big guys who can block.

I am annoyed. Exasperated, even. For the last time,*** THE LINE IS NOT AWFUL ANYMORE. I’ve covered that multiple times in the short life of DGDB&D, including this post, which I think is my best version of the argument.

I suppose this is not unlike the people who seem to think Brett Favre is still an elite QB–if it was true once, it must always be true! Huh? To paraphrase Nice Guy Eddie, just because you repeat something as gospel, “that don’t necessarily make it fucking so.”

The real annoyance is there are ways whomever wrote that blurb could have ended it to at least make it correct. For instance, “one small detail the Texans forgot: to try and find two safeties that aren’t brutally awful.” Or even, “figuring out if Matt Schaub can be a starting QB before signing him to a contract worth the GDP of Kyrgyzstan.“

I should not be surprised that a company that allows Colin Cowherd to forcibly sodomize the concept of “funny” on a daily basis would also allow some mental pablum to be posted on their website as well. I am surprised, however, that good football writers like Len Pasquarelli allow their names to be quoted alongside it. Live and learn.

I feel like I am beating a dead horse here. Which has nothing to do with Charles Spencer, as we have already established.

*No fucking way.
**See above.
***Obviously, this won’t be the last time. I just like that particular sentence construction.

Charles Spencer is not a horse.

Given the fickle nature of equine leg injuries and the itchy trigger finger of horse trainers, this is a good thing. It is also a good thing because, to my knowledge, horses are unable to read newspapers and completely incapable of feeling like they’ve been disrespected.

Because he is not a horse, Charles Spencer has none of these limitations. He is healing. He is reading newspapers. And, most importantly, he is using what has been written about him as motivation.

I read everything, and I use it every day for gas in my system[.] I cut everything out, and it’s sitting in my office in my house. As long as they keep writing them, I’ll keep putting them up. I’ve got a lot of anger. It’s been awhile, so I’m a little excited to get back.

I cannot think of any possible off-season development that would be bigger for this team than getting a healthy Charles Spencer back at left tackle. At 6′4″/352, Spencer has the build and skillset to be a dominant left tackle in the NFL. Jordan Black and Ephraim Salaam, on the other hand, have the build and skillset to be short-term fill-ins for a dominant left tackle in the NFL. My sources tell me that it is much better to have the actual dominant left-tackle in that situation.

Because we (meaning myself and whomever is reading this) are also not horses (assumedly), we have fingers. And we will be keeping them crossed that Spencer is ready to go on opening day.